Stepping into Spring…Spring Cleaning Our Mindset
Spring is a lovely time of the year, isn’t it? Full of promises, new beginnings, and hope. Many of us take time to spring clean by organizing our house, garage, and preparing our gardens. Turns out spring is an excellent time to consider cleaning out our mental spaces, too.
We often forget to declutter the most important part of our lives--our mind! Clutter accumulates around the house leaving us feeling disorganized and uninspired. So too can mental clutter, such as negative thoughts, leave us feeling stuck, uninspired, depressed, and/or anxious.
For example, after a year of COVID-19 and the winter weather, maybe you feel you don’t have control over what’s going on in your life. Maybe you feel annoyed by everyone being under the same roof, or by what others are saying or doing. Maybe you want to workout but feel guilty because you feel it is selfish to take time away from your family.
This got me thinking, what if you could make a few mindset shifts and turn over a springtime “new leaf” on life?
Just like spring cleaning your house can leave you feeling more calm and in control, so does spending a little time doing a mental clearing out of unhelpful or destructive thoughts. It is like organic weed killer. It will leave you feeling more energized to create a fertile ground for new ideas, new projects, selfcare, and reconnect with those you care about in an authentic and centered way.
You can have more control, inner peace, joy, and creativity if you focus on this spring cleaning tip: Notice when you are blaming, complaining, and imitating…then shift your mindset from what isn’t working to what is.
Blaming others keeps you stuck in a negative mindset and thinking others have control. Instead, focus on what you can do. Acknowledge that you/they are doing the best you/they can based on what you/they know. Then curiously ask yourself what could you do to find a solution?
Complaining keeps you focused on the negative and leaves you feeling unsatisfied. Instead, be empathetic and solution focused. It is ok to acknowledge the negative thoughts and feelings (it calms our inner critic) but then shift to curiously ask what can I say that is helpful, specific, and does it have a positive solution or outcome?
Imitating others or feeling you have to hide parts of who you are for fear of being judged or not liked, undermines your self-esteem. Instead, Just Do You. We are all unique and have gifts to share. When we show up authentically, we feel more alive, genuine, and energized. Others will respect you and your boundaries, if you do.
So take a minute and ask yourself, where in your life have you felt: overwhelmed, ruminated about what you could or should have done, blamed others, felt frustrated with what others were saying and doing, or tried to please others at your expense? Then remember, where your attention goes is where your energy flows.
If you want to have more control, inner peace, joy, and creativity in your life then focus on shifting your mindset from what isn’t working to what is.
Just a little mental spring cleaning keeps those weeds away. Where in your life could you use some spring cleaning?
(Original article, Gig Harbor Living Local, March 2021, pg 22)